Andrew Bolt: Response to Delta good news for Dan Andrews

The Delta variant has silenced critics of Daniel Andrews’ lockdowns — and now means Australia risks shutdowns for many months.

Daniel Andrews has suddenly gone from the worst premier to the best, praised even by his enemies for his lockdowns.

What a difference the Delta variant has made.

For one, it’s humiliated Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, who used to snipe at Andrews for shutting Melbourne so fast and often to fight the virus – five times now.

Frydenberg last October said “the bloody-mindedness is unforgivable”.

“There’s been a callous indifference in Victoria from the government to the loss of jobs and to the plight of small business”.

Just six weeks ago, before the NSW outbreak got out of hand, Morrison praised the NSW Premier for instead keeping Sydney open and “resisting going into a full lockdown”.

But on Tuesday they waved the white flag. Morrison backed lockdowns, and Frydenberg said our best way to fight outbreaks were “short, sharp lockdowns that we’re now seeing in Queensland, that we’ve seen in Victoria”.

Daniel Andrews’ Covid response has suddenly made him the best premier.

What’s changed? It’s this Delta variant. It’s much more infectious and more likely to kill the young, making it harder to simply protect the vulnerable.

The latest to die is a man in his 20s. A woman in her 30s died two weeks ago.

So Andrews’ blunders last year are forgotten or forgiven, including shutdowns that were too brutal then but in Delta’s dawn look just right.

This doesn’t just mean Andrews can’t lose the next election. It also means Australia risks shutdowns for many months, for good reasons or bad, no matter the damage.

But the Delta variant will also shock more Australians into finally getting the AstraZeneca vaccine that reckless journalists and officials claimed was too dangerous for the young, back when no young Australians had died of the virus. That left us with more than 3 million spare doses almost no one dared take.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been ciritcal of the Victorian Premier’s lockdowns. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

We’ve seen a backflip there, too.

Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young last week insisted no one under 40 take AstraZeneca, but on Tuesday announced “now is the time” – given Queensland’s outbreak – to consider it, after all.

A bit late. It takes at least 10 days after the first injection to develop some antibodies, and three months for the second dose.

Still, it’s the shock we need, because lockdowns aren’t our way out.

Delta also proves vaccines are, with vaccine passports to at least give the vaccinated some freedom at last.